Media Announcement: Korea Open make history, India get Super Series nod

In a major boost for badminton and the players involved in the sport, the Badminton World Federation today announced the hosts for the 2011-2013 Super Series season with the first ever million dollar prize money in a single tournament next year.

Expressing his delight with the development, BWF president Dr Kang Young Joong also announced that the Super Series circuit next year will offer combined total prize money of USD4.7 million, a substantial increase from the USD3.3 million total prize money on offer for the 2010 season.

“There is more money in the sport, we have our first ever million dollar prize money tournament, and above all, the BWF received a strong interest from our Members to be a part of the Super Series circuit,” said Dr Kang after chairing a Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

“These are positives for the sport and I firmly believe we are heading in the right direction in terms of developing and promoting the sport. The future is bright.”

The 12 hosts of the Super Series circuit for the 2011-2013 seasons are Denmark, England, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and China hosting two legs.

From the 12 Super Series events, five have been selected as Premier Series events, with the Korea Open offering USD1.2 million prize money followed by Indonesia on USD600,000. The other three Premier Series events – Denmark Open, All England Championships and China Open - offer a minimum total prize money of USD350,000 for each event.

The BWF introduced the Super Series format in 2007 to showcase badminton at a higher level of presentation and competitiveness, to increase television coverage for the sport and to increase the star quality and popularity of the top players in the world through increased television coverage.

Following a review of its events in 2009, the BWF decided to introduce a two-tier Super Series circuit – the Premier Series and Super Series. The Super Series circuit offers a minimum total prize money of USD200,000 for each tournament.

A total of 17 applications were received from Member Associations to be included as a Super Series event with another eight applications received for the Premier Series.